xiv, 241 pages ; 22 cm

Essays discuss race relations, segregation, the role of the writer in society, and the work of Andre Gide, Richard Wright, and Norman Mailer. Baldwin's early essays have been described as 'an unequalled meditation on what it means to be black in America' . This rich and stimulating collection contains 'Fifth Avenue, Uptown: a Letter from Harlem', polemical pieces on the tragedies inflicted by racial segregation and a poignant account of his first journey to 'the Old Country', the southern states. Yet equally compelling are his 'Notes for a Hypothetical Novel' and personal reflections on being American, on other major artists - Ingmar Bergman and Andre Gide, Norman Mailer and Richard Wright - and on the first great conference of Negro - American writers and artists in Paris. In his introduction Baldwin describes the writer as requiring 'every ounce of stamina he can summon to attempt to look on himself and the world as they are' ; his uncanny ability to do just that is proclaimed on every page of this famous book

part 1. Sitting in the house ... The discovery of what it means to be an American -- Princes and powers -- Fifth Avenue, uptown : a letter from Harlem -- East River, downtown : postscript to A letter from Harlem -- A fly in buttermilk -- Nobody knows my name : a letter from the South -- Faulkner and desegregation -- In search of a majority

part 2. ... with everything on my mind. Notes for a hypothetical novel -- The male prison -- The Northern Protestant -- Alas, poor Richard -- The black boy looks at the white boy

The Cushing Library/Women & Gender Studies copy was acquired as part of The Don Kelly Research Collection of Gay Literature and Culture

The Cushing Library/Women & Gender Studies copy is signed by the author

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